Thanks to all for a Great Christmas Season @ Valley Grace!

The Christmas Eve service was a special time for pausing and reflecting on Jesus' birth. Thank you to all who participated to in the service as well as the planning and preparation including decorating for the event.

So grateful also for those who came to share in the Christmas Sunday service. The choir, and all the special music was truly appreciated. The Praise Team did a great job in leading us in music. Thank you for taking the extra time to rehearse to make it a great day. Well done, Valley Grace!

Week Wrap Up ~ 2011.11.11

Thanks to all who came out last Sunday evening for our All Church Prayer and Praise (Concert of Prayer). Great time together praying about the ministries which are taking place and being informed of what God is doing locally. Some great testimonies! Special thanks to Praise Team who helped to lead us and took extra time to prepare. Well Done!

Another good evening on Wednesday night of Family Night Ministries. Thanks to all who serve, whether driving the van, crossing guard, food preparation, AWANA, JV & Varsity Boys, Girls of Grace, etc. We are grateful for this ministry and its outreach.

And since this is posted on Veteran's Day, we do want to express great appreciation to all who have served and are serving in the armed forces which make it possible for us to enjoy our freedoms.

Weekend Review of Ministry at Valley Grace

(pictures from memorial service for Dee Shillingberg) - click to enlarge

Thanks so much to the Valley Grace church family who served Dee's family and friends through her memorial service.

Our fearless AWANA Commander (Ed Imes) in dreadlocks - no less. Great job to all on family night ministries.

Brighten the Night ~ Report

Great job church in serving the community through the Brighten the Night event which runs in conjunction with the annual "Trick or Treat" night in our neighborhood. Somewhere between 250-300 hot dogs served (ran out of buns for the last dozen or so hot dogs, so they were "hot dogs on a napkin"). Many bags of popcorn were handed out as well as candy with a tract. Face painting and moon bounce were also part of the evening. Thanks for all who worked to make it a success. It was interesting hearing comments from folks from the community who had been directed up our way. More pictures of the evening - HERE.

Well Done ~ Valley Grace!

The Valley Grace Church family was involved in two significant events on Saturday.

Mark McAbee Memorial Service held at Valley Grace. The family did a tremendous job with celebrating Mark's life and also pointing folks to the importance of knowing Christ and walking with Him in this life. Big "Thank You" to all who helped with set up, food, serving, clean up, sound, etc.

Convoy of Hope. Approximately 40+ individuals from Valley Grace were involved with folks from other churches in the area in serving our community with Convoy of Hope. Here is a link done by one of the area churches - click here.

Valley Grace Block Party 2011.06.11

Thanks to everyone who helped put together the Block Party Kick off for VBS. Well done with the set up, the food, the staffing, the take down. Thanks also for those who helped with cleaning up from drywall dust, etc.

Urban Hope 2011 Video

Thanks for all who served. Here is the recap!

AWANA Awards Night 2011 wrap up

Thanks to all for a great year in ministry through AWANA. This is one of our best years. Those standing in this picture are individuals who have invested their time in teaching boys and girls for Christ. More pictures HERE.

Midweek Ministries Reflection

Just wanted to express great thanks and appreciation for all who are involved in midweek ministries in so many ways! You are truly making an impact with your investment into the lives of children and youth and adults. Please continue to pray for this ministry.

Urban Hope ~ A Day to Change the City

"Urban Hope needs over $50,000 this year to keep this ministry impacting lives for eternity. That is not a random or made up number. As we have done our annual budgeting, there is a significant financial need of $50,000. Thanks for helping be a catalyst for change where it is needed the most." -- From a letter dated October 2010 from Ed Lewis, Director of CE National which oversees Urban Hope Ministry.

If you would like more information or to watch some of videos of lives that are being changed, you can go here: http://www.adaytochangethecity.org/

If you would like to contribute to this need, you may give directly to CE National (envelopes available in the foyer) or mark your offering envelope "Urban Hope." We desire to get this collected and sent in by the middle of November.

Some Miscellaneous Thoughts for the Day

* Thanks for all who took part in "Tract or Treat" on Thursday, 11/28. Around 230 bags of candy were handed out along with Tracts. Please ask God to continue to use this outreach in the lives of folks from our community. Thanks, Eric, for organizing this!

* I appreciate so much the time and effort that the Praise Team is putting into learning music and leading us in praise to our God! It takes extra time, but thank you for using your talents to draw us closer to our God.

* Thanks to ER for putting together a very nice Convoy of Hope video which was shown on Sunday. I'm sorry for the glitch we had in the Second Service!

* Thanks to Dale & Wendy for hosting the Youth Fellowship event at the farm. It was a really nice time, and the fellowship was excellent!

Helping to Apply Genuine Worship in the Church

Paul instructs us in Romans 12:1-8 that Genuine Worship in the church is not predominately about the music or order of service or anything else external. He points out that the believer's spiritual service of worship is giving oneself in service to the Body of Christ. Other passages of Scripture emphasize that every single believer, regardless of age, gender, background, has been given a special gift or gift mix to be used for the building up of the Body.

Paul lists seven major gifts in Romans 12:3-8: speaking, service (ministry), teaching, encouragement (exhortation), giving, leadership, and mercy. These may be combined to result in a unique, personal gift. As a Believer, God has gifted you in a very unique way to invest your life in something that has eternal value and meaning - the Body of Christ.

1. This means that each follower of Christ needs to prayerfully consider what his or her spiritual gift/s are in order to serve His Church. It may take some experimentation and perhaps finding what is not a gifting and what is. The goal is that each follower of Jesus is actively serving in a ministry.

2. This means that we as the Body of Christ must allow individuals to grow in their spiritual gifts. It will take practice and discipline and trial and error as each person grows in using his or her gifts. As a church, we must develop opportunities to serve with feedback as well as allowing individuals to "practice" using his or her gifts. We must allow individuals to develop in speaking, teaching, leadership, mercy, etc., and support their efforts.

3. There are many opportunities currently for ministry at Valley Grace. We need to develop teachers for Sunday School, in all departments. We will need help in AWANA in many facets of that ministry from nursery, to listening to verses, to teaching a devotional time, to helping to provide safety and security, helping to pick up children, etc. Those with the gift of mercy can help with visitation to shut ins and others going through difficult times. We have opportunities to develop leadership for ministries and for the church. There are many other opportunities as well.

The result, when each believer is functioning effectively in his or her gift mix, the Body of Christ is built up (Eph. 4:11-16). Thanks to all of you who are faithfully serving and helping the Body of Christ at Valley Grace to function effectively. Looking forward to seeing God work through His people as Fall ministries begin!

Urban Hope 2010 Ministry Report

Thanks to all who went and served, and those who supported through your prayers and financial gifts. Well done!

Soles 4 Souls & Memorial Service

Thanks so much to all who participated last Saturday with the Soles 4 Souls project. Leslie, Becky, Shirley, Jeff & Garret (hope I didn't miss anyone, if so, add in the comments below) did an excellent job of interaction with the children and adults who came in from Lincolnshire and Hickory for shoes. Thanks to those of you who helped to fund this project. Approximately $1,800 was given out for shoes. Please be in prayer for the contacts that we trust will be made for VBS that we will have the opportunity to share the message of the hope found in Jesus.

Thanks also for those who helped to minister through the Memorial Service this past weekend. Your service of serving made an impact on the family. Thanks also to those of you who brought in refreshments.

Well done, church!

Thanks for a Great Sunday!

I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank all who were involved in helping to make this past Sunday a great Sunday for our Lord. There were those who helped to get the facilities ready by taking care of the ice situation, those who helped with costumes, who were involved in helping with the Toddlers and musical, ushering, music, etc. Thanks to the two young ladies above who served as greeters for awhile. We pray that the story of Christ's coming to earth and the reason for that journey, was made meaningful. We hope to have a DVD available for those of you who were not able to attend.

Do You Know What You Believe and Why?

In a recent report, USA Today report (here) Americans and Christians are mixing religious beliefs. Here are some of the reported findings:

• Even though Americans' overwhelmingly claim allegiance to someone they call God (92%), 70% said "many religions can lead to eternal life" and 68% said "there's more than one true way to interpret the teachings of my religion."
• The percentage of people who call themselves some type of Christian has dropped more than 11% in a generation, and so many have moved into the "None" category for religion that it is now at 15%, the third highest "religious" category after Catholics and Baptists.
• Reincarnation: 24% of Americans believe that they will be reborn in this world again, and 22% of those who call themselves Christians believe the same
• 29% of Americans believe that they can get in touch with the dead, and 29% of those calling themselves Christians believed the same thing.
• 26% of Americans believe the could get "spiritual energy" in trees, etc., and 23% of those calling themselves Christian believed the same thing.
• 18% of Americans had a ghostly experience, and 17% of those calling themselves Christian had the same experience.
• 15% of Americans have consulted a psychic and 14% of those calling themselves Christian also had the same experience.

Our goal here at Valley Grace is to help you understand God's truth and be firmly grounded in it so that you can respond to the errors and lies set forth by the enemy of our souls. We encourage you to be part of Sunday School, the Grace Institute (meets Wednesday evening), and other opportunities to learn and grow.

Tract or Treat Report

Eyewitness Report from Pastor Allen:

The tract or treat event was, in one word, SPECTACULAR! We were expecting around 125-150, We had around 400 people or more. We lost count after 300. Families upon families were coming out in droves. We had lines formed at the candy table, and the cotton candy machine for about an hour and a half straight. Each Child was given a bag with a tract and candy and a flyer with information about all of our ministries here at Valley Grace. It was truly an exciting night. People were shocked when they wanted to pay and were told its all free! But it was good to see all the smiles on people faces as they enjoyed all of the activities we had for the family in a safe environment. I think this is the start of something great we just need to continue to reach out to our neighborhood families with local mission and opportunities for the families.

Thanks to all who participated and prayed!

The Indispensable Church

"If your church closed tomorrow, would anybody notice?" -- thought provoking question. How would we answer it? To phrase the question another way, "How can the church become indispensable to the community?" Chuck Warnock points out that years ago the Celtic Christian abbeys were built at crossroads or next to a village. The purpose was so that the abbey would become the center of the community. As Warnock writes, the abbey "became necessary for the community's survival because they fed people, cared for the sick, gave shelter to the homeless, provided refuge for the weary and wanted, and lived out the Gospel in tangible and essential ministries."

The church does not exist merely to perpetuate an institution, but to impact a community for Christ. Warnock goes on to write, "I want us to touch more lives during the week than we have bodies in pews on Sunday. I want people to ask us to stay in business because we've made a difference in their lives." We want to position ourselves part of the body of Christ to make a difference in our community. As we are involved in challenging times, here is our opportunity to serve our community and make a significant impact for Christ. Please pray that God might grant us the privilege to have the same kind of impact for Christ, that our Celtic brothers did centuries ago.

Have Ideas? You are encouraged to list your thoughts and suggestions in the comments section. (Here is Warnock's full post)

The Truth Project

For the Fall Semester of our Grace Bible Institute, we are going to be using the material from The Truth Project. The purpose of this study is to help followers of Christ see the world from a Biblical perspective. It is designed to help Believers develop a Christian worldview. This study will also be helpful to parents who need to be able to respond to the secular material that your children are being taught in school about truth, science, sociology, philosophy, ethics, etc.

This is a DVD curriculum, but the goal is to make it interactive so that there is time for discussion during the teaching time as well as afterwards. We will be starting Wednesday evening, September 9 and the class will run from 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm. This is in conjunction with our regular Family Night ministries (AWANA, Girls of Grace, JV & Varsity Boys) so that children will also be learning.

Please sign up on the bulletin board and provide your name, the number attending and your email address (you can also email this information to Pam at the church office). There is a web site link that will be emailed to you where you can download notes which you can print out and bring to class. We would appreciate having this information as soon as possible since we are preparing room assignments for Family Night.

Here is a link for more info on The Truth Project (here). For the Spring semester, we will be returning to our regular study.